Takuma Sato led the Honda contingent Saturday in qualifying for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, and will start Sunday’s season-opening Verizon IndyCar Series race from fifth in the 24-car field. It is the second consecutive year Sato has paced the Honda qualifying effort at St. Petersburg, as the A.J. Foyt Racing driver started from the pole in the 2014 event.

Reaching the second of three rounds of Indy car “knockout” qualifying, Ryan Hunter-Reay will start tomorrow’s 110-lap race from eighth, with Andretti Autosport teammates Simona de Silvestro and Marco Andretti qualifying 11th and 12th, respectively.

The opening round of the 16-race 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series starts Sunday at 3 p.m. EDT, with live television coverage on ABC.

Takuma Sato (#14 A.J. Foyt Racing Honda) qualified 5th for the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg: “We did everything we could today. Obviously, we’re not on the front row, but we’ve made significant gains throughout the weekend and I’m happy with our qualifying performance. Team Penske is very strong here, and has been in recent years, but thanks to all of the hard work from Honda, HPD and the Foyt team, we are in very good shape for tomorrow’s race.”